Pubdate: Mon, 09 May 2016
Source: Manteca Bulletin (CA)
Copyright: 2016 Manteca Bulletin
Contact: http://www.mantecabulletin.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3670
SHOOT-UP ROOMS GET SERIOUS LOOK
NEW YORK (AP) - Across the United States, heroin and other drug users
have died in alleys behind convenience stores, on city sidewalks and
in the bathrooms of fast-food joints - because no one was around to
save them when they overdosed.
An alarming 47,000 American overdose deaths in 2014 has pushed
elected leaders from coast to coast to consider government-sanctioned
sites where heroin users can shoot up under the supervision of a
doctor or nurse who can administer an antidote if necessary.
"Things are getting out of control. We have to find things we can do
for people who are addicted now," said New York state Assemblywoman
Linda Rosenthal, who is working on legislation to allow supervised
injection sites that would also include space for treatment services.
"The idea shouldn't be dismissed out of hand."
Critics of the war on drugs have long talked about the need for a new
approach to addiction, but the idea for supervised injection sites is
now coming from state lawmakers in New York, Maryland and California,
and city officials in Seattle, San Francisco and Ithaca, New York.
While such sites have operated for years in places such as Canada,
the Netherlands and Australia, they face legal and political
challenges in the U.S.
"It's a dangerous idea," said John Walters, drug czar under President
George W. Bush. "It's advocated by people who seem to think that the
way we should help sick people is by keeping them sick, but comfortably sick."
At Sydney's Medically Supervised Injecting Centre, more than 5,900
people have overdosed since it opened in 2001. No one has died. It's
the same at Insite in Vancouver, British Columbia. About 20 overdoses
happen there every week, but the facility has yet to record a death.
Sydney's facility is tucked between a hostel and a Chinese restaurant
in the red-light district. Up to 16 users can shoot up in the
injection room, which resembles a doctor's office. Staffers are not
allowed to administer drugs, though clean needles are provided.
After users get their fix, clients head to a second room with a
warmer feel. Colored Christmas lights hang from the ceiling; books
and magazines line the shelves. Clients can relax with coffee or tea
or talk to staff. Some stay for 15 minutes; others spend hours. They
leave through a back door to protect their privacy.
An Amsterdam clinic - one of three in the Dutch capital - goes even
further, distributing free, government-paid heroin to long-term
addicts so they don't have to commit a crime to pay for their fix.
In Vancouver, Insite offers patients treatment services just up the
stairs from where they shoot up.
Rhea Jean spoke to the AP after recently injecting herself there. She
felt nauseous and ran outside to the curb to vomit. Her face covered
with scabs, the longtime heroin user looks far older than her 33 years.
"It's a great place for active users in full-blown addiction. It
links you up to other programs," said Jean, who hasn't sought
treatment through Insite.
The Vancouver facility was targeted for closure by Canadian Prime
Minister Stephen Harper and his Conservative Party. The case went to
the Supreme Court of Canada, which in 2011 told the government to
issue an exemption to the drug laws allowing Insite to operate.
In the U.S., which for decades has treated addiction as a law
enforcement issue, the biggest hurdle remains federal law, which
makes such facilities illegal. Supporters say officials in the
nation's capital could grant an exemption or adopt a hands-off
approach similar to the federal government's response to state
medical marijuana programs.
Kevin Sabet, a former drug policy adviser to the Obama
administration, put the chances of injection sites getting approval
anytime soon at zero.
"These facilities send a message that there is a safe use, and I
don't think there is any safe use of heroin," said California state
Assemblyman Tom Lackey, who spent 28 years as a California Highway
Patrolman. He opposes legislation there to allow state and local
health departments to allow supervised clinics.
In Maryland, state House of Delegates member Dan Morhaim is an
emergency physician who has administered the overdose antidote Narcan
"many, many times." He sees his bill for supervised injection sites
as just one of many creative approaches.
"It's not going to cure everyone. I'm not unrealistic," he said. "But
moving people from more dangerous behavior to less dangerous behavior
is progress."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom